Receive the latest press-here updates in your inbox

Smart Guns

Serial entrepreneur Jim Pitkow will give a million dollars to the inventor of a gun that won't shoot its owner. (Published Monday, Feb. 17, 2014)

Jim Pitkow, an entrepreneur and member of the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, said his organization will give $1 million to an entrepreneur who can create a safer gun. So far, fingerprint technology could be part of the solution, along with gun software and locks.

"Since we've launched the idea of the challenge, we've had more innovators," Pitkow told Press:Here. "We saw pockets of innovation in gun manufacturers to control technology and independent efforts across the world."

Innovation has been occurring since the 1990s, he said, but there are always issues including safe harbor provisions so that people will be shielded against liability. Pitkow and other members of the Silicon Valley elite that made up the foundation decided to start the firearm safety initiative after the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 by Adam Lanza, a former student.

After meeting with families of the victims, Pitkow and others decided to look at reducing gun violence, but quickly found out that one single solution doesn't work for all cases. The group is looking at safety from gun level, ammo, clips and gun software. "As long as we listen to the (gun owner) market, they will find the technology compelling," Pitkow said. "Most firearm owners that we know have a curious and open mind about it."